Florida, Orlando unemployment rates remain flat

March 28, 2014|By Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel

Florida's unemployment rate remained flat in February at 6.2 percent even though the state added more than 33,000 jobs compared with a month earlier.

Metro Orlando's jobless rate also was unchanged for the month at 6.0 percent. Unlike the state figure, the local rate is not seasonally adjusted, meaning it does not account for normal seasonal changes in hiring and firing.

During an appearance at the Port of Tampa on Friday, Gov. Rick Scott, who has staked his bid for re-election on Florida's improving economy, trumpeted the fact that the private sector added 32,100 jobs during the month.

"This is another great news day for Florida families. Last month, Florida businesses created the most jobs in any month since I became governor," Scott added in a video message.

Florida also added 1,300 public jobs — almost all of them in state government — during the month.

The statewide unemployment rate for January was initially reported as 6.1 percent, but it was later revised to 6.2 percent. The state rate remains at its lowest point since June 2008.

The unemployment rate in Florida has fallen 1.7 percentage points during the past year with the addition of nearly 212,000 jobs. The rate for Metro Orlando, which includes Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties, has fallen 1.6 percentage points during the same period.

Although Florida's unemployment rate was unchanged, University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith said it nonetheless reflected a solid monthly performance, given the number of new jobs created. Snaith said the steady declines reported in previous months had been "exaggerated" by a shrinking labor force, as many discouraged job-seekers stopped looking for work.

The February report underscores the challenge Scott and other state leaders will face in trying to bring the unemployment rate down even further, he said.

"As businesses pick up the pace of their hiring, we're going to see more people coming back into the labor force," Snaith said. "And that's going to make bringing the unemployment rate down from this level a more challenging task.

"We're past the easy phase of bringing down the unemployment rate," he added.